Category: Bulbs and Tubers

Forced Branches and Bulbs: Forsythia, Hyacinth, Tulips, Muscari, and Crocus

julia erickson1 Comment

In February, I am always overwhelmed with winter and overwrought by the desire to garden again. This is when forcing branches and bulbs comes to the rescue. Forcing forsythia is easily done. All you need to do is cut several branches showing lots of flower buds, put them in a vase with water, place the vase in a sunny indoor location, and wait about 7 to 14 days for flowers to open. The flowers last for a good time and, if the water is frequently changed so it remains clean, leaves will follow the flowers.

The hardest step in forcing bulbs is planning ahead by buying and preparing the bulbs. Last October, I tucked away several extra bags of hyacinth, tulips, daffodils, muscari, and crocus for forcing. I have found that bulbs will force by chilling them in the refrigerator away from fruit for a minimum of ten weeks. After which they can be potted up inside as I need them. I also force bulbs by planting them in pots in the fall and, then, storing these pots in the garage for at least ten weeks. After the chill time, I bring the pots inside, water them, and they will grow and bloom in a matter of weeks.

Usually, after the middle of January I will bring in a pot or pot up one each week. This combined with forsythia branches, snowdrops, and amaryllis will keep my home full of flowers until the first crocus appears.

Elwes Snowdrop

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Unseasonably warm weather has my Elwes snowdrops blooming in the garden already–one month ahead of last year’s blooms. The Elwes snowdrop, otherwise known as giant snowdrop, is native to Greece and dates back to the late 1800s. It is larger than the common snowdrop and blooms earlier, but has the same wonderful fragrance reminiscent of lilac.

I love snowdrops. They are the first bulbs to bloom, oftentimes pushing through the snow. Not only do they offer the promise of spring, but also make wonderful cut flowers. The three petal flowers open to look like helicopters and reveal little white hoods with green markings and yellow stamen. I love to put a vase of these on a cake pedestal so I can look up at the flowers from my library table.

Plant snowdrops in the fall in groups of at least ten. Snowdrops can easily be tucked under shrubs, at the foot of deciduous trees, around evergreens and in between perennials. The key is to plant a lot of them: think 100s. My favorite place to buy bulbs in large quantities is Van Engelen Inc. They offer fall bulbs wholesale by catalog and on the web at http://www.vanengelen.com/. A hundred bulbs will cost less than $30. Snowdrops will also increase and in a few years you will have nice clumps of them.